If it weren’t for the lights-out inspection, the crowd gathering in Room 307 would never have dispersed.
Although her roommates were still excited, they had to contain their emotions. After all, Xia Xiaolan had already returned from abroad and wouldn’t be going anywhere soon – they could question her slowly.
While Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t be taking Huaqing’s final exams, they still had to take them. Their agreement that whoever didn’t get a scholarship would be responsible for the entire room’s cleaning duties remained in effect.
The next morning, Xia Xiaolan, having nothing else to do, got up early to buy breakfast for her roommates. Yang Yonghong also came down from her bed: “Xiaolan, I’ll go with you.”
The senior Yang seemed to have something to say, so Xia Xiaolan linked arms with her as they walked out.
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t wrong – Yang Yonghong wanted to update her about the Yang family’s recent situation.
“Xiaolan, our family now raises two to three thousand ducks. Last year, we earned several thousand yuan from duck farming. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Several thousand yuan in a year.
Their annual income was now ten times that of an ordinary farming family.
If Yang Yonghong’s brother Yang Jie had continued working in Pengcheng, he would have earned several thousand yuan too.
But then Yang Jie wouldn’t have been able to continue his studies… The several thousand yuan Yang Yonghong mentioned was earned by their parents through farming at home, allowing both Yang Yonghong to continue her studies and Yang Jie to focus on his review!
“By the way, Big Sis, didn’t your brother take the college entrance exam this summer? How did he do?”
Yang Jie had worked at “Yuan Hui” with Yang Yonghong during the summer of ’85, staying until after National Day. Only then did he return home with his wages to pay his fiancée’s bride price, securing their relationship.
At Yang Yonghong’s insistence, Yang Jie chose to repeat his final year.
He should have taken the college entrance exam in July ’86.
Yang Yonghong patted her, “What’s the rush? I was just getting to that part. Yang Jie got into Beijing Industrial Institute!”
Beijing Industrial Institute?
Isn’t that what later became the Beijing University of Technology?
It just hadn’t been officially renamed yet.
“Yang Jie did really well!”
Yang Jie had taken the college entrance exam the same year as Yang Yonghong but only qualified for a vocational college.
Yang Yonghong herself repeated three years before getting into Huaqing University. The Yang family was already desperately poor, so Yang Jie didn’t attend vocational college, just took his acceptance letter home and became a farmer. If it weren’t for insufficient bride price money, Yang Yonghong wouldn’t have asked Xia Xiaolan to introduce part-time work, and the Yang siblings wouldn’t have gone south to work.
The money the Yang siblings earned from working not only solved the bride price issue but also left them with a surplus.
Yang Yonghong saw the difference between earning money with brains versus labor and forced Yang Jie to return to school for another year.
Yang Jie’s fiancée also supported his continued education.
With the Yang family’s improved economic situation, Yang Jie could focus entirely on his studies… In less than a year of review, he got into the Beijing Industrial Institute! The country hadn’t yet started the 211 and 985 projects, only distinguishing between key universities and regular universities, with vocational colleges below regular universities.
The Capital Normal University that Xia Ziyu and Wang Jianhua got into was regular.
Beijing Industrial Institute was a key university.
Honestly, Xia Xiaolan was quite surprised that Yang Jie jumped from vocational college level to a key university. She knew someone else like this – Chen Qing.
No, no, Chen Qing had actually qualified for undergraduate studies initially, but made a mistake in estimating his scores and didn’t fill out his preferences properly. After repeating for a year, with Xia Xiaolan’s help improving his English scores, it was normal for Chen Qing to get into the University of International Business and Economics.
Yang Jie truly went from a vocational college level to a key university, and he had even been away from his studies for over a year!
It wasn’t normal, it was strange.
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help asking, “Big Sis, could it be that Yang Jie was hiding his true abilities before, or did he perform poorly in his first college entrance exam?”
Yang Yonghong gave a slight “mm” of agreement:
“I later asked Yang Jie’s former teachers. His grades weren’t bad back then, and he could have qualified for undergraduate studies. I think he wanted to give me the chance to go to university. I got into Peking University, while he could only go to vocational college, so our parents wouldn’t have to hesitate about who to support through school! I was too unreasonable back then, only focused on getting into a famous university, stubbornly repeating for three years, never caring about Yang Jie.”
So Yang Jie deliberately performed poorly?
The Yang family did have brains suited for studying.
The Yang siblings’ relationship was good too.
Whether in urban worker families or rural families, Xia Xiaolan had heard many stories of daughters sacrificing for sons. If there was only one opportunity for education, it was usually the daughter giving way to the son, especially when the daughter was the eldest, destined to sacrifice for her younger brothers and sisters… The Yang family was the opposite – it was the brother who was willing to give up his studies to let his sister continue.
“Big Sis, your brother cares about you! Although his approach isn’t worth promoting, he showed great responsibility.”
Why should a brother let his sister sacrifice?
A brother can also protect and support his sister, which is exactly what Yang Jie did.
Yang Yonghong wiped her eyes with her sleeve, not wanting to appear too emotional in front of Xia Xiaolan, and quickly returned to her cheerful self:
“So now you know how grateful I am to you? Without you, Yang Jie would have been a farmer his whole life. I’m not looking down on farmers, but Yang Jie had a chance to change his fate, and shouldn’t have given it up because of me, his sister.”
Xia Xiaolan didn’t dare take credit, “It’s Yang Jie himself who’s capable. Everyone in your family is smart.”
“How is it not because of you? If you hadn’t suggested our family start farming ducks and improved our family’s conditions, how would Yang Jie, with his sensitive and worried nature, have felt secure enough to return to school for review!”
Being children of the same parents, sisters shouldn’t sacrifice for brothers, and conversely, brothers shouldn’t sacrifice for sisters.
Yang Yonghong had been pondering this matter. She realized that to truly avoid such situations, it wasn’t just about solving the family’s economic difficulties, but about changing the overall environment…
“Xiaolan, can I ask you for a favor?”
Xia Xiaolan was puzzled, “Go ahead, Big Sis. If I can help, I won’t refuse.”
“I heard the Ministry of Education is organizing a teaching support program. Although Huaqing students can apply, our counselor advised us to wait and see. The department feels the same way – it seems not everyone qualifies, there will be screening! Xiaolan, I want to go to the grassroots level too. I want to go back to my hometown to teach.”
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t surprised that Yang Yonghong wanted to participate in the educational support program.
All kinds of university students would participate.
Some were completely pressure-free, having grown up in good environments, not knowing how poor remote rural areas were – the idealistic type.
Some were “enlightened individuals” who saw opportunities, like the title of “Outstanding University Student Pioneer,” thinking that having educational support teaching experience would bring many benefits in their future careers.
Then there were those like Yang Yonghong, born into poverty, understanding how terrible poverty could be, yet still willing to go.
Seeing Xia Xiaolan’s hesitation, Yang Yonghong became a bit anxious and lowered her voice:
“Xiaolan, others might not know, but how could I not know? I heard this educational support program involves companies from Pengcheng, and just hearing the name, I knew it was related to you. As long as you agree, I’m sure I can get accepted!”
Young Eagle Takes Flight.
Qihang Real Estate.
Yang Yonghong was probably the most informed person in Room 307 about the inside story. Even Zhou Limin’s uncle, Zhou Maotong, hadn’t told her everything.
It wasn’t that Xia Xiaolan didn’t want Yang Yonghong to participate in the educational support program, but was this timing appropriate?!